Tender Heart
by azscarecrow
Summary: Lee and Amanda need to have a talk.


Scarecrow and Mrs. King: Tender Heart…

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own or claim to own Scarecrow and Mrs. King, or Joe, the boys, Dotty or Billy for that matter, I don't think I have Francine in this story, but I don't own her either. I make no money from this, just pleasure. 

Rating: I'm not sure, either PG or PG-13, there's some 'French' in here.

Synopsis: Takes place right after Wrong Way Home, after Lee and Amanda see each other at Dooley's. The underlined portion is the song, "How Do I Get There" By Deanna Carter, while not made until a few years ago, I really don't care, I thought it fit, and wanted it in the story. 

'Damn it. I'm too late.' Thought Lee. 'She's gonna get back with Joe. And why shouldn't she, he's the father of her children? Philip and Jamie are great kids, they deserve a father, but he left them once, what makes her think he won't do it again. Ah, I'd be there for them. Forget it now Stetson, you blew it. You waited too long. I gotta get out of here, it's too stuffy.' Lee moved his shirt up and down against his chest in hopes of getting some air. 'Haven't checked my messages in awhile, suppose I could do that.' Lee said, he got up from the seat he had taken at the bar, threw a five down on the counter and left. Shaking his head back and forth as he pushed the door open in anger.

'Now I wonder what he's doing here?' Amanda thought to herself. 'It's so far out of the way, maybe he had an assignment over here, quick drop off or something. No, he'd have told me, wouldn't he? Maybe not, he's the one that hates saying we're partners. He does say it every now and then. Where do I stand with that man? Every time I think we're getting closer, he's quick to remind me that we're just business associates. Of course, I haven't had the 'speech' in a few months. Probably due for one soon'

"Billy, I don't want to go Baltimore! Not alone." Lee whined over the phone, this was the dumbest job his boss could have given him. "Can't a freshmen do this one?" 

"Take Amanda, it'll be good training." Billy reasoned with him.

"Really?" Lee asked in amazement. Then thinking of what he'd said, he added, "I…I, mean, I mean," Lee mumbled. "I mean, ah, this is even below her." 

"Just go, I want this thing wrapped up by Wednesday, you can leave in the morning, and be back tomorrow evening. I don't need any hassles. I'll debrief Shamba, I'll talk to you on Wednesday Lee. Don't forget to make your contacts." Billy quickly hung up the phone avoiding any further argument.

"Yeah." Lee sighed as he hung up the pay phone outside Dooley's. He wanted to tell Amanda tonight so she'd be ready to leave for Baltimore at around 7 the next morning. He went and sat in his car, with any luck, Amanda and Joe wouldn't be much longer, he casually glanced down at the clock in the car, 9:38, 'fine, she should be outta here by 10.'

'10:25, come on Amanda, you've been in there for over an hour, there's not that much to talk about.' Lee logically thought. 'The boys grew up a little, Jamie's starting to lose interest in sports… wait a minute, why do I know that, Amanda hasn't even realized that, or at least she hasn't said anything…why do I know that? I've been spending way to much time in that backyard. Lee, get a hold of yourself, Amanda's an annoy… no she isn't, she's the sweetest, smartest, most beautiful woman you've ever met… no, damn it Lee, stop this. Think about other girls, it probably wouldn't work between you and Amanda anyway, she's too, she's too…damn it.' Lee slammed his fist on the steering wheel. This wasn't working out for him, he didn't know how he'd felt about Amanda, and he certainly didn't know what to do about it, he'd never felt this way about anyone before. Not even Dorothy. 

'Finally.' Lee said to himself as he turned the ignition and the clock changed to 10:43, Joe and Amanda were leaving the bar. He had his hand wrapped around hers. Lee clenched his hands to the steering wheel. 'Why did they have to be so friendly, and around him…They don't even know you're here Stetson, this is ridiculous.' Lee hopped they'd go home, and figured Amanda would spot his car if he followed them, so he just drove to the familiar surroundings of 4247 Maplewood. 

'They must have taken their time getting here, I was here half an hour ago, then again I was speeding.' Lee told himself as he saw Amanda's car pull up into the driveway. Joe's rental sat out front, and Lee had parked down the street. Lee watched Amanda and Joe walk up to the front door. 'Hopefully this won't take long.' 

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"I had a nice night Joe." Amanda said, she had seen Lee's car down the road, and was now very self-conscious about being with Joe. She saw him at the bar, and he'd left, but she didn't figure he'd go to her house. 

"I had a really good night too Amanda." Joe said in a low whisper. He leaned in for a kiss; Amanda panicked and quickly just moved to give him a light kiss on the cheek. She was glad that Joe was back in the states, and he'd been talking about getting an apartment in D.C., but things between the two of them were over, she was in love with Lee, even though he had no idea. "What's the matter?" Joe asked in shock.

"Nothing, just, we're just friends Joe, that's it, nothing more. It never will be anymore." Amanda said, firmly ending the conversation, and destroying any ideas Joe might have had about reconciliation. "I'll see ya soon." Amanda told him, she went inside the house leaving Joe standing on the porch. He hung his head and slowly walked toward the car.

'I wonder what she told him.' Lee thought as he slowly got out of the car and headed toward the backyard. As he peered in her kitchen window he saw that all of the lights were off except the kitchen lights, Dotty and the boys had gone to bed hours ago. Amanda sat at the kitchen table with her head down; Lee saw that she was crying. He needed to be there for her right now. "Don't cry beautiful." Lee lightly whispered to himself. He gently tapped on the door. 

Amanda lifted her head. 'What could he want right now, the last thing I want to see is Lee Stetson.' Amanda told her self as she stood up to open the door. She wiped the last remaining tears from her face, and hopped that her eyes weren't red yet, she hadn't been crying long, and she wasn't in the mood to lie to Lee as to why she'd been crying. She opened the door for him.

"Hey." Lee told her nervously. 'Is my voice shaking?'

"Yeah." Amanda stated, it was more of a question than a declaration.

"Um." Lee thought to himself, 'I had a reason to be here, what was it?' "Uh, hey, are you okay?" He said to try and cover up his forgetfulness.

"Yeah, I'm fine." 'Is this conversation going anywhere?'

"Um…Oh yeah! I remember, uh, can you be ready to go by seven tomorrow morning?" Lee asked her.

"Go where?"

"Baltimore, Billy has a little lunch in thing for us to go to, see if we can't get any information on this guy Matt Flanders, calls himself Marvelous Matt." Lee told her.

"I've heard of him, but why do we have to go?" 

"I don't know, we should be back tomorrow night though, I'll give you more details on the way up, if you're going?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah, sure, it's not a problem. I'll just tell mother I'll be out shooting all day, so she shouldn't call me at the office. We'll be back tomorrow night right?" Amanda asked. "Jamie has a soccer game, I missed the last few of them, and I'd like to be there for this one."

"I understand, and I promise to have you home by 5." Lee told her.

"Okay, I'll be ready and waiting at 7." 

"Great. I'll be here." Lee said. He stared at her uncomfortably for a moment. He wanted to wash all of her fears away. "So, I'll see you tomorrow." Lee said as he began to walk away. 

"Lee, thanks." Amanda said as she watched him go into the bushes. He hadn't really done anything, but just by him being there, Amanda had felt a little better.

"For what?" Lee asked as he turned and looked at her. Amanda smiled coyly and went back into the house. Lee shook his head and went back to his car. He couldn't help thinking of Amanda as he drove back home, all night long. He hadn't been sleeping at all lately. He just tossed and turned in his bed trying to get that housewife from Arlington out of his head. His alarm clock went off at 5:45.

"Great, no rest for the weary, again." Lee mumbled to himself, rolling out of bed. As he stood in the shower, and the hot water hit his body he hoped for a break in his thoughts of Amanda, but there was no such luck. He couldn't help but wonder why she'd thanked him last night. He was almost sure that he and Amanda would be back in town by tonight, but he packed two extra shirts, a pair of sweat pants, and an extra pair of slacks just in case, oh, and a pair of jeans, you never know what might happen. He put the bag in the back of the vette and drove off to Amanda's house by 6:45. 

As he walked through the back yard once more, he was caught off guard when he saw Philip throwing away some trash. He quickly ducked behind some bushes and watched as Philip went back into the house. The boys were home, how was he supposed to get Amanda's attention now? Lee quietly snuck behind the kitchen window and peered his head into the kitchen. Amanda was sitting with her back to the window. Just great. He was lucky Jamie had looked away quickly.

Amanda looked at her watch once more, 'Lee should be here by now.' She said to herself as she saw her mother coming into the kitchen. 

"Good morning darling." Dotty said as he began pouring herself a cup of coffee. 

"Morning mother." Amanda said as he turned to face her mother. 

"You know, I saw this beautiful silver car parked out front of the house this morning, I wonder if we're getting a new neighbor." Dotty told her.

"Silver car?" Amanda asked.

"Yes dear. I think it's a sports car, I hope it belongs to a nice, young, handsome, eligible bachelor, if you know what I mean." Dotty said as she sat next to her daughter.

"Yes, ah, mother, I have to be going, I'll be home later." Amanda said as she quickly put her glass in the sink, and left the house in a rush through the back door. Amanda walked over behind the bushes and saw Lee.

"Hi." Amanda said. Lee quickly turned around to look at her.

"Hi." Lee told her, as he was about to stand up. The kitchen window being slid open interrupted him.

"Amanda, who are you talking to?" Dotty asked her daughter.

"Ah, myself, I remembered something." Amanda improvised.

"Darling, just don't answer yourself, it makes people think you're strange, and you want to get married again someday don't you." Dotty said closing the window.

"Yes mother." Amanda rolled her eyes and looked down at Lee who was lightly chuckling at Amanda's situation. "Get up. I'm not the one in a bush." Amanda told him; not thinking it was necessarily as funny as Lee had found it. 

Philip and Jamie watched their mother enter the silver Corvette with Lee from their bedroom window. "Hey, look at this Jamie, Mom's getting in the Vette with that guy!"

"Yeah, I wonder who he is." Jamie said, almost as enthused as his brother.

"I don't know, but do you realize that's a 1984 Corvette, I bet it has a V8, with competition suspension!" 

"What are you talking about num-skull." Jamie asked him.

"That's a high dollar car, he probably paid about 15 grand for it, he's gotta be rich!" 

"Mom's dating a rich guy?" Jamie asked.

"I'd bet my Richie Jackson Rookie on it!"

"I don't care about your Richie Jackson rookie, I want something that's of value." Jamie told him.

"Fine, I'll give you my glove."

"I don't want your glove either bozo."

"Then what do you want?"

"Top bunk. If I'm right, and he's not rich, or Mom's not dating him, I get the top bunk, but if you're right, and he's rich AND Mom's dating him, the bed situation stays the way it is." Jamie told him. He'd been looking for a way to get top bunk for a while now.

"That's a crummy deal for me, I don't get anything if I win, but I lose my bed if I lose." Philip told him.

"Fine, what do you want if you win."

"You have to sleep on the couch for a week, so I get my own room for a change."

"I'll have to come in here to get my clothes."

"You can live out of a suit case, but if I win, you don't come in here for a week, and you do my chores, for a week."

"This isn't very fair…" Jamie started thinking.

"Yeah it is, it's totally fair, if you win, we trade for life, but if I win, the deal's only good to me for a week, so I get the most I can out of that week. Deal?" Philip asked his brother extending his right arm.

"Deal." Jamie reluctantly said, extending his right arm to meet his brothers in a shake.

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"Amanda, can I ask you something?" Lee said, the question of why she'd said thank you last night was still really bothering him.

"Sure, what?" Amanda perkily stated.

"Why did you say thank you to me last night?" Lee asked her. "And, why were you crying?" He didn't know why he threw in the last one, but he really was curious.

"Listen, Lee, can we not talk about it, I just don't want…" Amanda said, she didn't want to tell Lee about how she'd really felt about him. The feelings had been there for quiet sometime, but she wasn't sure she was ready to talk to him about it. They had been experimenting with the thought lately, but the paths weren't laid, and she was unsure of what might happen if she said anything, she knew Lee was emotionally unstable. 

"Come on Amanda, we're friends aren't we?" He asked her. He knew he shouldn't push her, but he wanted to push ahead with their relationship, but seeing her with Joe last night made him a little uneasy.

"Lee." Amanda pleaded, hoping not to have this discussion right now.

"Amanda, I just want…" Lee started. Amanda was curious as to what he wanted, but she wanted him to lay off so she could figure a few things out.

"Lee." Amanda warned, she knew he was pushing too hard.

"No, I want to say this, I just think you should talk to me."

"No." Amanda could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She was more scared than upset, and this being her time of the month, emotions were harder to control. Lee pulled the car off to the side of the road; he really needed to talk about this right now. She got out of the car in anger and began to walk off in the direction of the brush that surrounded both sides of the road. Lee chased after her. 

"Amanda. Amanda!" He shouted as he ran in her direction. What she needed was to be held, and told that everything would be fine. What she wanted was some space, obviously two different things. Lee approached her grabbing a hold of her forearm. "Amanda, please, say something." Lee pleaded.

"Lee." Amanda begged once more. Her eyes had released the tears. She was afraid, afraid of becoming involved with this man, and being no more to him then his other 'pass-through-town-one-nighters'. Hell, she didn't want to just pass through town, she wanted to make residence in the town. But was that something Lee was willing to except? 

"Yeah." Lee sighed, knowing that they'd talk about it soon, just not right now, he pulled her into his arms and held her. Washing away her tears, and leaving her fears for a later discussion. They slowly walked back to the car, and continued the drive to Baltimore, in silence. 

As Lee turned right on the exit marked 'Baltimore' Amanda looked over at him. He noticed her stare and turned to him. "What?" Lee asked slightly giggling.

"You still haven't told me what we're doing here." Amanda told him.

"Oh, yeah right." Lee said slightly embarrassed and disappointed, he'd hopped she'd want to tell him why she was crying last night, but there was no such luck. "Uh, okay, so Marvelous Matt, is selling the codes to a few of our nukes, we don't know where he got them, or even if they're for real, he's supposed to be giving them to someone at the lunch in."

"And why isn't the Baltimore district sending one of their own men?"

"I'm the only one that can identify him. I saw him a few years back, and he disappeared after that. No ones seen him since, so, I have to go."

"How can you be the only one that knows what he looks like, doesn't he go anywhere?"

"Amanda, he's been underground since 1981, we can't make a sketch of him, because I'm not real sure what he looks like."

"Not real sure?" Amanda asked in doubt.

"Yeah, I didn't get a good look at him, I saw him from about 75 feet away, but I'd know him if I saw him."

"Don't you have like a guess or something?"

"A vague one, about 5'10" or so, around 200 lbs, brown hair, nothing that isn't too common."

"He could almost be you." Amanda said lowly.

"I do not weigh 200lbs!" Lee said in defense.

"No, but someone might think you do from 75 feet away."

"Besides, I'm 6 foot." 

"Oh, sorry." Amanda said, sort of embarrassed that she'd even said anything. 

"Anyway." Lee said, slightly irritated by this whole ordeal. "All we have to do, is go, eat some food, find the guy, listen to his conversation, then give them a report down at Baltimore head quarters. Then, we can head back to D.C. and be done with this whole mess." Amanda nodded. "Amanda," Lee said as he looked up to the sky. 

"What?" 

"Does that look like a rain cloud to you?" He asked pointing up to the large gray cloud that covered the sky. 

"Yeah, why?" She asked, the rain being the last of her concerns.

"No reason." Lee told her, hoping not to jinx anything. He continued driving toward their destination.

They successfully heard all of Marvelous Matt's conversation about when and where the drop of the nuke codes would be made. On their drive to the Baltimore Agency, the rain cloud began to drop its rain in light sprinkles, that slowly grew larger. They entered the agency using Lee's jacket as an umbrella to shield them from the steady rain. As they left the agency, they tried to stay under various buildings' awnings to keep from getting drenched from the great pour the cloud had started releasing. 

And as they drove down the road, they saw the cloud heading toward the D.C. area, and the hail that began to pound on the windshield was beginning to worry Lee. Lee consciously looked at the clock, 4:43, it had taken them longer to fill out the report than they'd expected.

"Amanda, why don't we stop and get something to eat, maybe by the time we're done, this weather will have cleared and driving won't be so difficult." Amanda nodded in agreement, and they pulled into a Denny's. 

It took them only 45 minutes to finish and the weather had not yet cleared. Lee had tried to pass time by trying to win Amanda a stuffed animal, after $10 had gone down the drain, the two had decided they could have just bought one at a store for less, and gave up. However, the weather had only succeeded in getting worse, and they weren't sure what to do. So, Lee called Billy.

"Well?" Amanda asked Lee, she'd waited for him in the lobby of the Denny's while he made the phone call.

"You won't be happy." Lee told her, he stood straight in front of her to explain the situation.

"What?" Amanda asked curiously.

"He said that we should just stay the night here and head back in the morning, the agency will give us money for the hotel rooms." Lee told her.

"Yeah, okay, that's fine." Amanda said, she wasn't happy about missing Jamie's soccer game but there wasn't much she could do about the weather.

"What about Jamie's soccer game?" Lee asked her.

"Well, I've already missed five, what's one more, I think he's getting used to no one being there to root him on." Amanda told him. 

"Yeah." Lee said. He pulled her into his arms once again. She laid there comfortingly for a few seconds, and then pushed him away with a feeling of awkwardness.Lee was hurt when he felt her arms push him away; he walked out the door running his left hand through his hair. He couldn't let her see the pain if she didn't want to be more than friends. Sometimes she really confused him, one second she wouldn't let go, and the next she cringed at his touch. 'Women.' Was all he could force his mind to think.

"Damn it!" Lee shouted as they left the third hotel. "What's going on here!" He pulled on the door to his car hard enough for it to fling open and hit the car next to his. "Shit." He said as he moved the door back, at least it hadn't left a mark. Lee flopped into the drivers seat in exhaustion. 

"No vacancy." Amanda said as he turned the key to the ignition.

"None." He told her. "They said there's one down the street that has one room left, if you want to we can go there, or try and find a different one with at least two, but that could take the rest of the night, or we can just sleep in the car, it's up to you." He told her calmly. 

"Let's just stick with the one room thing. I'll even agree to sleep on the floor." Amanda told him. She knew this was frustrating him to no end. Who goes to Baltimore in the middle of March anyway?

"Really?" Lee asked her in shock, taking the floor wasn't that big of a deal, but he was surprised she'd agreed to sharing a room with him. 

"Lee, it's fine. Let's just get out of the rain." Amanda told him, she couldn't believe she was agreeing to share a room with him, but maybe it would give them a chance to talk, if he'd wanted.

"All right, Barry's Bed and Breakfast, here we come." Lee said as he put the car into reverse and began driving out. 

Lee unlocked the door, and let it swing open for Amanda to go in after him. He held his bag in his right arm as he watched her go in. 'How can one person be so beautiful?' He asked himself as he watched her survey the room. 

"Are you coming in?" Amanda asked as she turned to face him.

"Oh." Lee shied as he came in and closed the door behind him. "Is it okay?" 

"Yeah, it's fine. But there's another problem."

"Oh, yeah, what's that?"

"I only brought this to wear." Amanda said referring to her pants suit. 

"That's okay, I brought a few extra shirts, and a pair of sweatpants, you can wear those." Lee said as he opened the bag to hand her his striped, button up dress shirt, and sweatpants. "They might be a little big." Lee told her.

"I'll manage." Amanda said taking them from his hand. "Thanks." She went into the bathroom to change. 

Amanda walked out of the bathroom with the shirt sleeves rolled up to just below her elbows, and the sweatpants hanging a little low from her small waist, she'd pulled in the strings as far as they would go, and it was still too big. Lee, who had been lying on the bed watching TV, marveled out how she could look so gorgeous in his clothes. Amanda took a spot next to him on the bed. 

Curling herself into a ball, and almost about to bring herself to tears, she whispered, "I'm scared." To herself. Lee's attention hadn't been on the TV since she'd come out of the bathroom, he'd heard what she said, and couldn't stop himself.

"Of what?" Lee asked her. It was all he could do to keep from wrapping his arms around her to take away that trepidation.

It had startled Amanda when she realized Lee had heard what she said. She tried to pretend she didn't know what Lee was talking about. "What?" She asked him as she slowly sat up.

"Damn it Amanda, why won't you talk to me." He was mad; he angrily got up from the bed and began pacing around the room. "Normally, I can't keep you from not talking, and now, when all I want is for you to talk to me, you won't do it. You say 'nothing' or plead my name; you want me to stay out of it. But I can't stay out of this, I care too much about you to watch you hurt like this, and not do anything about it. Just tell me, whatever it is, I promise, I'll understand."

"How much?" Amanda asked him.

"You want to bet?" Lee asked her in confusion.

"No, I need to know how much you really care about me before I can just go off and tell you, because Lee, I need someone right now, but I don't need someone that will get me started, then leave me high and dry, the last thing I need in my life is another Joe." Amanda didn't know how she'd forced herself to be so honest. 

"I knew this was about Joe." Lee mumbled to himself. "Amanda, I…I…I'm not gonna leave you, I promise, now will you please just talk to me." Amanda got off the bed and walked over to him.

"This has nothing to do with Joe." Amanda said looking into Lee's eyes. He met her gaze, and moved his hands slowly up her arms. Never taking his eyes off hers, he let his hands rest on her neck. He pulled her slowly in for a lingering kiss. She graciously kissed him back, not wanting to be released from him ever.

However, Amanda's fear came back when she started to think about being just a one-night fling, and she stepped back from his embrace. Lee, a little surprised by her reaction, looked at her in shock.

"Amanda, what's wrong?" He asked her, his voice was low and definite.

"I just." Amanda began. Lee looked at her and waited. "I'm not sure."

"So, you're saying you don't know what's wrong?" He asked her.

"No, I'm saying, that, I don't want to get hurt." Amanda said in a whisper. He looked down at her, then, up into her eyes, trying to understand what she was telling him.

"I don't understand." He told her.

"What is this?" She asked him.

"This, is a kiss." He said lightly, as he pulled her into his embrace once more, he lightly kissed her lips. She pushed him away for the second time. "What, don't you like it?" 

"No, it's not that. It's…" She paused, trying to think what she would say. "It's, Lee, it's everything I've ever wanted, but that's how I feel, I don't want you to think that this is a one-night whatever. I don't want you thinking you can just flip me over and go to another girl."

"I never…" Lee began. He was slightly hurt; he hoped she knew he would never hurt her. 

"Lee, please, just let me say this." Amanda told him, she had the courage to say what she wanted to right now, and if she'd been forced to wait until later she might not have the courage later. "I want to be with you, but for more than one night. I don't want to get started, and then wake up the next morning, and not have you there. I can't be hurt like that, not again. I have two young sons, and you know that, I have to think about them too." There was a pause, neither talked, and the only sound was the low humming that came from the clock. "I hope I didn't scare you." She said trying to get him to speak. 

Lee just watched her. As she stood there, slightly shaking. She had dared to share her feelings with him, and now, he just stood in amazement, watching the woman he loved, and he couldn't say anything. "Can I speak now?" He asked her. Amanda nodded at his request. "I would never, ever, under any circumstance, just leave you. I can't for the life of me, understand why Joe left behind the best woman I've ever known. The only woman I've ever truly loved. And I promise you, that if, and when, we fall asleep in the same bed, I'll be next to you when we wake up." He slowly walked towards her. Praying he wouldn't get the same reaction from her he had the last two times he'd tried this.

"Promise?" She asked him with a smile on her face.

"Promise." He told her smiling back. He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist. He bent forward and grabbed her lips with his. This time, she refused to push away, right now, everything seemed too nice.

Finally, Lee got up the courage to back away. He looked deeply into her brown eyes, eyes that held more love in them than anyone could imagine. A song that seemed to fit this situation came into his head, and he allowed the words to play in his mind. 'We've always been the best of friends, no secrets and no demands, but suddenly from somewhere out of the blue, I see a different light around you.'

'One thing, I haven't told you, I just want to hold you, and never let go, I need to know. How do I get there from here? How do I make you see? How do I tell you what my heart's been telling me? Lost in your loving arms, that where I want to be, you know I love you, how do I get there? You'll probably think I've lost my mind, taking this chance, crossing that line.'

'Well I promise to be truer that true, dreaming every night with these arms around you, I can't wait any longer. This feelings getting stronger, help me find away. How do I get there from here? How do I make you see? How do I tell you what my heart's been telling me? Lost in your loving arms, that where I want to be, you know I love you, how do I get there, from here?'

'The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but I'll climb any mountain that you want me to climb.'

'The perfect combination is your heart and mine, darling won't you give me a sign.'

They spent the night just talking; enjoying the company of one another, rushing things was to dangerous for such a valuable situation. They decided to spend the next day in Baltimore together, enjoying the chance to just be themselves, and not put their lives on the line. They'd told Billy it would take them another day to wrap things up, they had a few leads they wanted to investigate. 

Later, that night, Lee drove Amanda home, and with the boys watching from their room, Lee walked Amanda to the front door. 

"I can't see dipstick, move why dontcha!" Philip shouted to his brother as he tried to see what was happening on the front porch. 

"You move!" Jamie shouted back. 

"I bet we could see better if we went downstairs." Philip said as he began to dart out of the room.Philip and Jamie stood at the window in the living room, watching their mother outside.

Lee wrapped his arms around Amanda's waist. He looked into her brown eyes, and couldn't help but think of all of the great times that lie ahead. He smiled at her, she couldn't help but smiling back. This had to be heaven. And as he leaned in for a kiss, his love for her was greater than it ever had been. Through the softness of his touch, Amanda knew that things would be perfect, for a long time.


End file.
